Review
Mechanisms of leukemogenesis induced by bovine leukemia virus: prospects for novel anti-retroviral therapies in human
-
* Corresponding author: Luc Willems willems.l@fsagx.ac.be
1 Molecular and Cellular Biology, Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques, Gembloux, Belgium
2 National Veterinary Research Institute, Pulawy, Poland
3 Luc Willems, National fund for Scientific Research, Molecular and Cellular Biology laboratory, 13 avenue Maréchal Juin, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Retrovirology 2007, 4:18 doi:10.1186/1742-4690-4-18
Published: 16 March 2007Abstract
In 1871, the observation of yellowish nodules in the enlarged spleen of a cow was considered to be the first reported case of bovine leukemia. The etiological agent of this lymphoproliferative disease, bovine leukemia virus (BLV), belongs to the deltaretrovirus genus which also includes the related human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1). This review summarizes current knowledge of this viral system, which is important as a model for leukemogenesis. Recently, the BLV model has also cast light onto novel prospects for therapies of HTLV induced diseases, for which no satisfactory treatment exists so far.